Chapter 7: Attention

Tauriel sat on a chair by the slumbering king's bed, staring ahead, straightened in a rigid posture. It wasn't till Idhrenion touched her shoulder that she realised that the other elleth had been speaking to her and was extending a glass vial towards her: "You need to take this and a hold of yourself Tauriel, you are no use to the king in this condition."

The redhead started, unwittingly proving the other elf's point about not being at her best. "I am well," she argued. "And I am not the patient. What do you think about how poorly His Majesty's been today?" She pressed instead.

"Drink this and we will have a talk," Idhrenion persevered with her plan.

Seeing her determination, Tauriel didn't want to delay finding out about Thranduil's health any further and downed the offered tincture, which incidentally didn't taste bad at all. It was sweet and warm, making her chest rise with deeper, calming breaths as soon as it passed her gullet. "Are you trying to make me go to sleep too?!" The ex-guard reproached.

"No. It will only clear your head, uproot emotions clinging to obsessive thought processes. Relax you by opening way to new perspectives. But to be fair, it would not be a bad idea," the healer held, "I presume you haven't had a good night's sleep since you've started work here."

"I had always been accustomed to little sleep in the guard," Tauriel defended her position. "Can we talk about how the king's condition worsened."

"Come, he will not need you for a couple of hours at least," the healer put a hand on Tauriel's back to encourage her towards the door. "I am enthralled by your dedication to help and comfort the king, I must admit," she started when she believed them out of earshot. "With your reputation no less."

"I have been misjudged often in the past and I have also made mistakes," the green clothed elleth admitted, on the fence. Were they ever going to get to the point?

"Given the trust I have in you that you will only have His Lordship's welfare in mind, I also have to admit that as a healer I have reached the end of my approaches regarding treating his heavy drinking. There's considerable damage to internal organs no doubt, which I still deem reversible and it will remain reversible for a very long time shall he continue his habit," she felt the need to assure Tauriel, "but I myself find it hard to look over the suffering his pattern offsets. I wanted to talk to you about causes and how we may alter the effect of those. What is your opinion regarding the reason behind his self-destruction?"

"I am pretty sure I know why," Tauriel supplied, hesitant. Thranduil would not like being discussed behind his back. She wasn't one to keep to rules, but such delicate matters were beyond that. No, she would not reveal Thranduil's greatest weaknesses to anyone, be that a healer or otherwise, regardless of how easy it would be to guess most contributing factors. "He had confided it me," she referenced the moments they shared where vocalised fragments of truths gave way to unabashed verities in looks that passed between them, "I would not like to undermine this trust he has in me."

Idhrenion smiled benevolently, "I am glad my suspicions are founded. He cares for you in ways he doesn't for any other in court."

"I wouldn't say that…" The redhead struggled with the concept, part of her scandalised by the underlying connotations and another part contemplating the nature of the unusual bond that connected them.

"You do not need to disclose the king's secrets of course," the other elleth continued, "but if you have any ideas regarding ways I could help so we could get the king well again, then please share those," she encouraged.

"Actually, yes, I do," Tauriel started, "one I've talked with His Majesty about. I don't know if he's well enough for it though," she frowned, "but I do hope you could get him well enough for it. We would be leaving on a voyage, perhaps for a few months or longer."

Idhrenion looked astonished and horrified, "you suggest he should undertake a journey, riding all day long with dangers almost certainly necessitating close combat at every turn?"

"I know it sounds bad, but I believe it's for the best. He had agreed to it and for the first time in a long while, I've seen him showing interest in finding anything else than the bottom of a bottle. I believe he needs to do this, right some wrongs. And given it is supposed to be a longer journey, we would be travelling light, so there would be no barrelloads of liquors available."

The brunette gave a shaky sigh, "His Majesty plans this?" She was still against it, but who was she to question the king's intentions and ways of assuring Mirkwood's safety in his absence.

"Yes. It might also help him focus on something else than drinking for once," Tauriel gave her all to convince the elf with a caring profession. "Can you get him into shape for the enterprise?"

"Only with His Lordship's help. If he really wants to do this, I would expect he would use some sense and restraint in regards to his alcohol consumption."

"He will," Tauriel assured, probably herself foremost. She could only hope, encourage and remind him, though she wasn't even sure he would remember their conversation.

Tbc